Nintendo, and especially developer emeritus Shigeru Miyamoto, have been keen to make Pikmin a franchise on par with its other top-tier names like Mario and Zelda. To that end, it has declared November 1 will serve as Pikmin Day, a branding holiday of sorts to serve as a launching point for yearly announcements.
The debut Pikmin Day Direct surprise-aired today, with Miyamoto walking through a handful of announcements. First, he explained the reasoning behind the date, as the original three Pikmin standing side by side looks sort of like 111. Uh, okay. So we guess it was either November 1 or January 11. That dubious rationale aside, it's a day to celebrate Pikmin, a pet favorite creation of Miyamoto, so we can't really complain.
The Switch 2 upgrade for Pikmin 4 was already known to be coming on November 12. This part of the presentation was mostly an overview of the new additions, like the microphone voice commands for Oatchi, and a walkthrough of how the Dandori Academy mode works. You'll get to plan out your best route, and then every weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) you'll get a chance to take an exam to test your strategy. You only get one attempt, however, so it's a bit like a cuter version of Hitman's Elusive Targets.
A demo of the Switch 2 version is coming on November 2, which will include the opening area and two Dandori Academy stages.
A cinematic trailer for Pikmin Bloom announced a new feature, Secret Caves. To find a Secret Cave, you'll need to discover a cave map, which the presentation hinted can usually be found attached to postcards. Plus you can earn special maps by completing exams in the Pikmin 4 Switch 2 Edition.
Once you've discovered a cave, you can dispatch your Pikmin to explore it themselves. If they encounter a creature a battle will begin, but you can use your whistle to call them back if they're in danger. If they do get defeated, they'll automatically recover after a waiting period.
If you win the battle in the secret cave, you'll get a new treasure that will be added to a new area of your collection. The update is coming this winter.
Finally, Miyamoto introduced Japanese actress Fuka Koshiba, who went viral for her knitted Pikmin hats. After a bit of chitchat about hats and claw machines, Miyamoto and Koshiba introduced a new Hello Pikmin short about a Pikmin hiding from a suspiciously sneaky toad. This was the first of many Pikmin shorts to come, as Miyamoto announced that there will be another coming later in November, followed by monthly Hello Pikmin shorts starting in December.